THE  EARLY   SETTLEMENTS    OF  THE  MORAVIANS  IN 
NORTH  CAROLINA. 

BY  D.  M.  SWINK. 

BEFORE  dealing-  directly  with  the  early  settlements  of 
the  Moravians  in  North  Carolina,  let  us  consider  for  a 
moment  the  early  settlement  and  condition  of  the 
"Province  of  North  Carolina." 

The  settlements  began  with  straggling-  emigrants  from 
Virginia,  who  soug-ht  to  better  their  fortunes  in  regions 
farther  South.  Naturally  they  would  settle  on  some  river, 
and  so  these  early  emigrants  did  settle  on  rivers  leading 
into  Albermarle  Sound,  and  the  first  record  we  have  of 
them  dates  back  to  1650. 

As  religion  was  not  the  predominating  motive  that  lead 
these  emigrants  into  the  two  Carolinas,  so  religion  for 
a  long  time  seemed  to  have  received  but  little  attention,  as 
the  first  spiritual  movement  was  inauguratad  about  1672 
and  the  first  church  built  in  1705. 

During  this  period  and  for  some  time  afterwards,  there 
was  much  dissatisfaction  in  sections  of  Bohemia  and 
Moravia,  caused  by  persecutions  from  the  Roman  Catholics, 
driving  a  band  of  religious  men  to  flee  for  refuge  in  1722 
to  the  estate  of  Nicholas  Lewis,  Count  of  Zinzendorf,  who 
was  then  made  their  bishop. 

On  account  of  his  religious  energy  and  ability  to  do  good, 
he  made  a  visit  to  America  in  1741  and  founded  missions 
among  the  Indians,  the  beginnings  of  the  several  settle- 
ments for  those  of  the  Moravians  who  might  choose  to 
emigrate  thither.  Such  were  the  objects  of  the  pleasant 
villages  of  Pennsylvania  and  of  Salem  in  North  Carolina. 

In  1747  negotiations  between  the  United  Brethren  and 
the  British  Parliament  were  entered  into  and  finally  result- 
ed in  the  purchase  of  an  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land, 
the  territory  of  the  President  of  the  Privy  Council,  the 
Earl  of  Granville. 
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The  purpose  of  the  colony  was  to  give  such  Brethren  and 
friends  as  would  desire  it,  an  opportunity  of  settling-  at  a 
cheap  rate  in  a  country  as  yet  but  little  cultivated  ;  also  to 
serve  both  in  a  temporal  and  spiritual  sense  the  inhabi- 
tants already  here,  the  Cherokees,  Creeks,  and  other 
Indians. 

The  purchase  of  the  land  was  not  completed  until  the 
autumn  of  1751. 

The  surveying-  and  the  plotting-  out  of  the  land  was  the 
next  thing-  to  be  done  ;  accordingly  in  1752  several  men  set  out 
from  Pennsylvania  to  survey  the  land.  This  was  completed  in 
December  1752  after  several  month's  of  "ill  luck."  About 
seventy  thousand  acres  were  included  in  this  survey,  but 
nearly  thirty  thousand  acres  more  were  added  afterwards. 

I  have  been  unable  to  find  the  exact  amount  paid  to  the 
Earl  of  Granville,  noting  only  "a  certain  sum  of  money 
and  a  yearly  rent  to  be  paid  annually."  The  g-eneral 
deed  for  the  whole  tract  was  sealed  and  signed  on  the  7th 
day  of  August  1753. 

In  the  autumn  of  1753  the  the  first  colonists,  twelve 
unmarried  men  came  from  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  to 
settle  upon  the  land. 

They  seemed  to  be  very  conservative  in  the  selection  of 
their  first  colonists,  and  it  may  be  of  interest  to  note  the 
variety  of  trades  existing  in  the  colony.  There  was  one 
minister,  one  warden,  one  surgeon,  one  shoemaker,  two 
carpenters,  one  tailor,  one  baker,  one  miller,  three  farmers, 
nine  trades  being  represented. 

They  spent  six  weeks  in  making  this  tedious,  fatigu- 
ing and  perilous  journey  of  nine  hundred  miles,  across  rivers, 
and  over  mountains  covered  with  woods. 

On  November  7th,  1753  they  took  possession  of  this  land 
bordering  on  the  Yadkin  and  Dan  rivers  and  named  it  The 
Wachau  or  Wachovia,  as  Count  Zinzendorf  had  the  title  of 
Lord  of  the  Valley  Wachau  in  Austria. 

The  new  settlers  began  with  good  courage  to  clear  some 
acres  of  land,  to  sow  it  with  wheat  and  to  build  a  mill.  A 


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small  deserted  cabin,  which  they  found,  served  them  for 
a  shelter  or  dwelling  house  during"  the  first  winter. 

The  second  company  of  Brethren  or  Moravians  arrived 
from  Bethlehem  on  Oct.  26,  1774  and  settled  with  the 
others. 

It  was  resolved  that  on  the  same  spot,  where  the  first 
settlers  had  made  already  a  small  improvement,  a  town 
should  be  built  to  be  named  Bethabara,  "House  of  Pass- 
age, "  as  it  was  intended  only  for  a  place  of  sojourn  until 
the  principal  town  could  be  built  in  the  middle  of  the 
whole  tract. 

On  November  26,  1754,  the  corner  stone  was  laid  for  the 
first  house  in  this  town,  appointed  as  the  church  and 
dwelling  house  of  the  Brethren.  There  was  a  larger 
curch  built  of  stone  in  1778,  which  remains  standing  and 
is  still  shown  to  visitors. 

The  land  of  the  Brethren  was  in  the  year  1755  by  an  act  of 
the  Assembly  declared  a  particular  parish,  and  after  the 
name  of  the  governor  of  N.  C.  called  Dobbs  Parish. 

In  Wachovia,  North  Carolna  the  Brethren  enjoyed  peace 
in  the  beginning  of  the  Indian  War,  because  the  neighboring 
Chrokees,  were  at  that  time  friends  of  the  English.  But 
in  Virginia  there  was  war  with  the  Indians,  and  many 
murders  were  committed  and  consequently  many  people 
fled  to  North  Carolina  in  1756.  The  Brethren  enclosed 
their  town,  Bethabara,  and  the  adjacentmill  with  palisades. 

On  account  of  the  failure  of  the -corn  crop  in  Virginia  in 
1757,  scarcity  followed,  and  a  'large  number  of  people  came 
down  to  the  Moravian  settlements  to  supply  their  wants.  As 
there  was  a  renewed  outbreak  of  the  Indians,  they  remain- 
ed and  were  given  land  to  cultivate.  These  stragglers  were 
unwilling  to  go  away,  and  asked  permission  to  remain  with 
the  Brethren. 

This  was  granted  and  the  fugitives  constantly  attended 
preaching  and,  as  stated  in  one  of  their  histories,  "some  of 
them  were  laid  hold  on  by  grace." 

In  1760  a  tract  of  land  was  assigned  to  them  for  building 


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and  cultivation,  three  miles  from  Bethabara.  This  new 
place  was  the  beginning-  of  the  second  Moravian  settlement 
in  North  Carolina  and  was  called  Bethany,  later  Bethania. 

These  two  villages  were  in  constant  danger  from  out- 
breaks of  the  Indians,  mainly  the  Cherokees. 

As  an  assistance  to  their  government,  the  Moravians 
were  allowed  out  of  their  number  a  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
for  the  county  in  which  Wachovia  lies. 

Since  the  last  colony  noted  in  1754,  there  had  been 
several  new  colonies  that  came  from  Pennsylvania,  includ- 
ing some  women,  until  at  the  end  of  the  year  1765,  the 
number  of  inhabitants  in  Bathabara  was  88  and  in  Bethany 
78. 

In  1766  the  first  colony  direct  from  their  "old  home"  in 
Germany  arrived  by  way  of  London  and  Charleston,  S.  C, 
and  a  beginning  was  made  to  build  Salem,  five  miles  south- 
east of  Bethabara.  This  has  since  become  the  principle 
settlement  of  Moravians  in  North  Carolina. 

It  was  resolved  that  Salem  should  be  built  in  the  same 
manner  and  have  the  same  regulations  as  their  home  town 
in  Austria  and  as  Bethlehem,  where  the  unmarried  men 
and  boys  and  the  unmarried  women  and  girls,  live  in  sepa- 
rate houses.  The  house  for  the  unmarried  men  was 
built  in  1768  and  remains  standing  on  the  west  side  of 
"The  Square"  but  is  used  for  another  purpose  now. 
The  house  for  the  unmarried  women  and  girls  was  built  in 
1786  and  remains  standing,  adjoining  the  south  side  of  the 
school  building. 

They  also  laid  the  corner  stone  for  a  church  in  April 
1770,  which  is  standing  now.  But  in  1801  a  much  larger 
brick  building  was  finished  in  which  services  are  now  reg- 
ularly held. 

During  the  next  few  years  the  population  in- 
creased rapidly,  augmented  by  settlers  from  Europe  and 
also  from  the  New  England  colonies.  In  1769  a  school 
house  was  built  about  nine  miles  south  of  Salem  and  this 
new  settlement   was  called    Friedberg.    Another  settle- 


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191 


ment  to  the  south  east  of  Salem  was  begun  in  1770  and 
called  Friedland. 

On  account  of  the  increase  in  the  number  of  settlers,  it 
was  thought  advisable  to  begin  another  settlement  in  the 
south. western  portion  of  this  tract.  This  was  done  and 
the  settlement  named  Hope. 

During  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  Moravians  in  North 
Carolina  suffered  great  hardships  and  losses.  They  were 
not  required  to  tight  during  the  Revolution,  as  by  their 
agreement  to  settle  in  North  Carolina  they  were  to 
be  exempted  from  personal  military  service  for  a  reason- 
able compensation.  They  were  required  to  pay  $125  for 
each  substitute  sent  in  the  beginning  of  the  war  and  af- 
terwards to  pay  a  triple  tax. 

Salem  received  in  the  year  1785  two  fire-engines  from 
Europe,  and  a  fire  regulation  was  made  in  the  town.  The 
fire-engines  may  still  be  seen  in  the  Historical  Society's 
museum  in  Salem.  They  were  made  out  of  wood  and 
were  simply  force  pumps,  mounted  on  a  bench,  and  are 
very  crude  and  odd  looking  compared  with  any  machinery 
now  in  use. 

In  the  year  1791,  General  George  Washington  honored 
Salem  with  a  visit,  remaining  there  several  days.  The 
room  which  he  occupied  while  in  Salem  is  still  preserved 
in  the  "Old  Tavern"  as  it  even  was  something  over  a 
hundred  years  ago. 

But  the  first  half  century  of  their  existence  in  North 
Carolina  was  quietly  coming  to  a  close,  and  they  wished 
to  commemorate  the  event  by  showing  some  signs  of  grat- 
itude to  their  Preserver;  so  the  17th  day  of  November  1803 
was  celebrated  as  a  jubilee  by  all  of  the  Moravian  congre- 
gations in  North  Carolina  The}'  met  in  Salem  and  united  in 
solemn  praises  and  thanksgivings  to  their  gracious  Lord  and 
Saviour  for  all  the  favors  and  blessings  which  He  had 
bestowed  on  them  during  this  period  of  fifty  years. 

At  the  beginning  of  these  fifty  years  there  were  but 
twelve  people  to  be  thankful  for  any  blessings,  but  at  the 


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close  of  these  fifty  years  the  number  had  increased  to 
1305  people. 

The  Moravian  settlements  in  North  Carolina  still  retain  the 
same  ideas  as  were  found  in  their  home  settlement — to  have 
proper  regard  for  the  morals  of  the  young-  and  for  the  comfort 
of  the  aged,  for  cheerful  industry  and  pleasant  social  life, 
and  to  establish  boarding  schools  for  their  boys  and  girls. 
Their  school  house  for  boys  stands  on  the  Northwestern 
corner  of  4 'The  Square,"  arid  was  built  in  1794.  The  buil- 
ding remains  standing  and  is  covered  with  mud  slabs,  with 
dimensions  about  6x12x1^2  inches. 

Their  school  for  girls,  south  of  the  church,  was  built  in 
1803-4  and  has  been  used  continuously  for  the  school  and 
is  termed  "The  Salem  Female  Academy,"  and  has  become 
one  of  the  foremost  colleges  in  the  South  for  the  educa- 
tion of  girls. 

They  also  have  a  home  for  the  aged,  "The  Widow's 
Home"  and  another  called  "The  Sister's  House." 

In  visiting  their  settlements,  one  steps  out  of  the  busy 
whirl  of  the  nineteenth  century  into  the  calm,  and  peace 
and  dreamland  of  an  hundred  years  ago,  to  the  charm  of 
which  only  a  Goldsmith  could  do  justice. 


HOMER. 

Contributed. 

Silence  and  darkness!  Dim  and  mystic  Past, 
That  speaketh  not  with  many  voices  as 
A  later  age!  Thou  hast  a  single  voice, 
The  song  of  many  lives  that  speak  as  one; 
Not  History  nor  Literature  alone, 
Romantic  message  from  that  simple  life 
Before  the  art  of  record  was  devised, 
Melodious  anthem  pouring  through  the  mist 
That  lies  along  the  horizon  of  time. 


